Cognizance
by alqui
Summary: Even heroes get tired sometimes, and when they do, they find solace in the company of the most unexpected of men.


**I haven't seen Hetalia beyond 3 or 4 episodes of APH, so please forgive me if there are any mistakes. Most of my Hetalian knowledge comes from fanfiction and the seiyuu events of 2010 and 2011 ( which led to me being a huge fan of Atsushi Kousaka, and also Hiroki Takahashi, but not as much as the former ).**

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 _"I despise common sense. I've seen the world from every possible angle. This cruel, ridiculous, beautiful world."_

 _-Lacie, Pandora Hearts_

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It was a world meeting like any other, filled with utter chaos with the nations not getting anything done. But things were a bit different for a certain hero. America looked around for someone to hang out with. Generally he would have bothered England, but...Alfred needed a break. Sometimes, being with Arthur could be tiresome. He liked the company of the older nation and thought of him as a big brother, but Arthur's personality was just so different from his own, so straight laced and serious that he found himself wanting to get away for a bit. He wanted to do something fun! Like going to an amusement park! Or a fair! Or a baseball match!

Suddenly his train of thought was broken was a 'Ve~'. He turned around to see Italy staring at him ( holy shit, this was his first time seeing Italy open his eyes ) in slight concern.

"Is there something wrong, dude? You have come to the right man, the hero will fix whatever problem you have!"

"Ve, America, I have a big problem! A nation was looking sad and I don't know what's wrong..."

Alfred knew that he was not exactly know for his skills in observing people, but he didn't think that anyone looked sad at the world meeting. Best to ask Italy. "Who is that nation? I will cheer him up! Oh wait, is that a her? Everyone is the same for the hero!"

Strange, it looked like Italy was trying to restrain himself from laughing. "Well, it's a he, and he has blonde hair, blue eyes, wears glasses, loves his bomber jacket, and I think you can make an accurate guess as to who it is."

Oh. _Oh._ America pinked a little with embarrassment. It was not his fault! How should be have known that Italy was talking about him? Granted, he was the hero, but heroes are slow sometimes too! Though something warm unfurled in his chest at the thought that Italy was worried about him, the only nations who actually paid attention to him were Matthew, Arthur and Francis ( the Frenchman may be perverted and silly, but he had sharp eyes and a sharper mind ), but they were family so they didn't count. Oh, everyone paid attention to him, America the super power, America the hero, America the energetic kid, but no one noticed his feelings as Alfred, the person who grew up too fast, the child who became too strong with few to lean on.

"Ve! I know! Come with me!" Italy's voice startled him out of his thoughts. And before Alfred had realised what happened, Italy had latched onto his hand and was dragging him to god knows were.

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"Dude, exactly where are we going? " Alfred was tired, they had been walking for so long! He had no clue where Italy was leading him through the many lanes of Paris, where the meeting was being held.

Italy flashed him a reassuring smile and said, "Ve~, I know this lovely place that big brother France once showed me! You will love it! And do call me Feliciano!"

And thus America found himself walking for another twenty minutes with Ita- Feliciano ( he gave Feliciano permission to call him Alfred too, it was only fair ) happily telling him about how beautiful the view from that place was. Normally, America would have zoned out five minutes into the speech, but he listened this time, honestly listened, because Italy actually tried to have a conversation. Most nations either went on and on without bothering about giving him chance to speak, or were too scared of how powerful he was, or didn't have the patience to deal with him. Unfortunately, the people whom he interacted with often ended up in the latter two categories.

"Hey Feli, can't we go to McDonalds instea-" Alfred trailed off when he saw the view on top of hill like thing. Feliciano's words didn't do justice to that. The scene was utterly breathtaking. He could see the complete city from there, in all it's glory. Why weren't there any people? Honestly, it was hard to believe that people didn't know of this place. Or maybe they didn't want to come here, too busy with there lives to spare time to visit some wild place. That thought was accompanied with a pang of sadness. He adored his bustling cities where so many cultures meet and exist, and he loved his people, every single one of them, but sometimes his heart can't help resenting them for what they had done to his land, how polluted it has become. How they can't even spare the time to go to places where the earth and air still bear some resemblance to the period when his mother was still with him. Still alive. Still a nation.

But a hero shouldn't think depressing thoughts in front of people! He turned to said person and saw that Feliciano was holding out a plate of pasta. Hold on a sec, where did that come from?

"Uh, Feli, where did you get that pasta from?"

"Ve~, I bought it from that nice little shop there while you were looking at the nice scenery!" Felicano's usual bubbly voice had an undercurrent of something Alfred could not quite put his finger on. Sadness, maybe. Nostalgic, probably. Understanding, most definitely.

Alfred was really embarrassed now, a rare thing in itself, but it seemed like Feliciano had a knack for that. Just how long did he zone out for? Nevermind, currently there were more important matters, like food. He took his plate of pasta from Feliciano's hands and attacked it like he would attack his precious delicious wonderful burgers. He didn't even realise how hungry he was till the first bite of pasta entered his mouth. God, it was heveanly. He could now see why Feliciano loved that particular food ( Felicinao had already finished his plate of pasta too, damn he was quick ) But American burgers are cooler and tastier, of course. It was shame most nations didn't like it when he ate them during the world meetings. Ah! Speaking of meetings-

"Hey Feli! Did you like my great idea of a robot to clean up the Earth? You did, didn't you? I don't know why the nations didn't like it. Science have made so much of advancement! We could totally do it in a few centuries! And if the nations work on it then it would be even better! But I don't think nothing short of a war would be able to convince them..." He trailed off when he saw Italy's face. He had a sad smile on his face and was looking at America like he hadn't seem something like him in a long time. "Uhh, what is it?"

The aforementioned nation startled a bit. "Ve, it's just that... you are so young, mio caro. Never lose that optimism Alfred. So many nations were part of the old world, but their is a part of their heart that doesn't believe that it can restored. I admit, it can't be exactly the same, but at least the air can be fresher, the earth can be greener, the sea can be cleaner than what it is now. I can still remember the time where the world did not have these industries and automobiles. The ancient, untamed, beautiful world."

It suddenly dawned on America that Italy was really fucking old. Granted, not as old as China - no one was - but still old. It was hard to believe that the cheerful, silly, crybaby Feliciano's history dated so long back. But...he had seen the small moments when his more serious side came up to the surface. Those were enough to convince him. Feliciano's inherent happiness and cheerfulness were all real, but he also had his share of pain, realised Alfred. Every nation has it.

"Ve~, one last thing, Alfred. Don't turn into a war machine", he turned to look towards the city, golden eyes full of pain, "it never does any good for anyone."

Alfred wanted to ask what did Feliciano mean but that, but he stopped himself. Reading the atmosphere was ridiculously hard, but even he could tell that it would hurt the Italian. And he really didn't want Feliciano looking so sad. The emotion just wasn't made for his face. Subconsciously he had come to regard him as one of those nations who always had a smile ready for everyone. So instead, he settled for nodding and they chattered about inane things till late in the evening.

That night Alfred thought about his day. He truly had fun. It was not quite as he had planned, but it was still really enjoyable. He should hang out with Feliciano more. The nation was great fun to be around and he gave good advice too. And he also gave good food. Food was very important. He should invite Feliciano over for some great American food! Alfred knew he would love it, after all, American food was the best after all! And with those pleasant thoughts Alfred drifted off to sleep.

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 **WHAT IS THIS FANFIC I BARELY RECOGNISE IT**

 **Okay, I had wanted to write a fanfic that shows the other side of Italy. He is fairly old ( around 2000, I did my research ), and he also had a history of being controlled by various nations. You can't go survive that and come out on top without having amassed at least some wisdom. I actually really respect Feliciano, how he can always keep smiling and give affection so freely. Especially towards France, who killed HRE. So, I picked America as the second character in this fanfic, because he's the youngest nation in canon ( around 250 ).**

 **This fic had that, but it also somewhat turned into nature, pollution and shit, with America being the main character. I AM SO SORRY FELICIANOOOOO!**

 **I didn't even want to write AmeIta ( I ship it a lot though ) but I could easily pass this as an AmeIta fic wtf.**


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